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Several property developers recently have received loans or investments from state-owned firms. But is the government making a good bet by investing in them amid a slump, or is it trying to keep the companies afloat?

Developer Rick Barrett will get $5.3 million in city incentives from Oak Creek to build 167 apartments in Drexel Town Square, a project that will start in early June. See the attached slideshow for the first interior renderings of the project by Milwaukee-based Barrett Visionary Development. The four-story building will anchor the western segment of Drexel Town Square, a mixed-use project under construction at West Drexel and South Howell avenues. Barrett said his segment of Drexel Town Square…

Charlotte, N.C., developer Crescent Communities LLC has signed a builder to bring new luxury custom homes to its 258-acre Oakland Park community. Melbourne-based Vintage Estate Homes will build custom homes starting in the $600,000s in the west Orange County community. It joins another custom homebuilder, J&J Building, and two production builders, Ashton Woods Homes and David Weekley Homes, said a news release. Construction now is underway on the community’s second phase. New homes not only…

Several property developers recently have received loans or investments from state-owned firms. But is the government making a good bet by investing in them amid a slump, or is it trying to keep the companies afloat?

China has invested more than $40.8 billion in real estate institutional deals across the world over the past seven years. But in a number of places, including Detroit, its investors are running into snags.

Developer Rick Barrett will get $5.3 million in city incentives from Oak Creek to build 167 apartments in Drexel Town Square, a project that will start in early June. See the attached slideshow for the first interior renderings of the project by Milwaukee-based Barrett Visionary Development. The four-story building will anchor the western segment of Drexel Town Square, a mixed-use project under construction at West Drexel and South Howell avenues. Barrett said his segment of Drexel Town Square…

At 61, Gary Everton acknowledges that he's nearing retirement. "I'm within sight of the couch," as he affably phrases it. This isn't news to Everton. That's why he has spent years incrementally progressing toward the point he reached this week: Everton no longer is the sole owner of EOA Architects, a company he co-founded 24 years ago. Everton now is joined by three new co-owners who are longtime colleagues: Sheila Dial-Barton, Tracey Ford and Michael Murdock. The company, based in East Nashville,…

Commercial real estate services company CBRE Group Inc. has agreed to buy the Global WorkPlace Solutions business of Johnson Controls Inc. for $1.475 billion in cash. The announcement by Los Angeles-based CBRE(NYSE: CBG) confirms reports earlier this month that it had beat several private equity firms in talks to buy the business, which provides facilities and energy management for more than 1.8 billion square feet of corporate real estate. CBRE said the purchase price will amount to $1.3 billion…

Momentum continues to be steadily positive for the retail sector through the first quarter of the year, according to a broker with CBRE Sacramento. While lease rates and vacancy remained relatively flat, said Rick Martinez, the recent interest in good big-box spaces is being replaced with interest in smaller spaces nearby and centers that are less expensive. “Rents in retail are so site specific that it’s difficult to put an average number on space for rent across the board,” he said. But…

The YMCA Buffalo Niagara has finalized an agreement to sell its Niagara Falls branch to the Niagara Gospel Rescue Mission. The agreement includes a $1 payment for the building on Portage Road, where YMCA operations will cease by May 31. The sale is expected to close in about 60 days. With plans to reopen a single-room occupancy (SRO) program with the City of Niagara Falls, the Mission will use the building to expand its programs for the homeless. Incorporated in 2008, the Christian organization…

Charlotte, N.C., developer Crescent Communities LLC has signed a builder to bring new luxury custom homes to its 258-acre Oakland Park community. Melbourne-based Vintage Estate Homes will build custom homes starting in the $600,000s in the west Orange County community. It joins another custom homebuilder, J&J Building, and two production builders, Ashton Woods Homes and David Weekley Homes, said a news release. Construction now is underway on the community’s second phase. New homes not only…

Minnetonka residents filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday in an effort to keep the Southwest light rail transit project from destroying a wooded public park and trail. In their lawsuit, the Opus Woods Conservation Association and the owners of the 330-unit Claremont Apartments said the Metropolitan Council did not adequately consider the rail route's impact on the 49-acre Opus Hill area. The Metropolitan Council was reviewing the complaint Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson said. Located at at 10761…

Albuquerque’s apartment options aren’t meeting the demands of its younger population. That’s the take of Albuquerque commercial real estate consultant Todd Clarke, who is an expert in multifamily investment and millennial behavior. Through Clarke’s longtime involvement with the Apartment Association of New Mexico and as head of New Mexico Apartment Advisors, a study survey has been launched to look at the existing Duke City inventory and what can be done to match it with changing demographics. Part…

The Howard Hughes Corp., which is based in Dallas, has received a $350 million loan for two condo towers along Oahu's south shore in Hawaii, which is part of a larger $600 million loan for the high-rise development. The towers, standing 36 and 38 floors tall, will sit within the Ward Village 60-acre urban master-planned community in Honolulu. The $350 million A-note will be clubbed between five lenders: Wells Fargo, Ullico, Washington Capital Management, First Hawaiian Bank and American Savings…

An entity formed by Nashville-based Highmark Holdings LLC has purchased the Biltmore Place Apartments, located at 830 Glastonbury Road. According to a news release, Highmark Biltmore Place L.P. paid $8.25 million for development. With 176 units, it represents a purchase price of $46,875 per unit. The property was purchased using tax-exempt bond financing and 4 percent low-income housing tax credits allocated by the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. Highmark plans a number of renovations to…

By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor The missing piece of the puzzle for full economy recovery is still higher wages across most sectors of the economy. Productivity is up, profits are up, yet wages are not up so much. While month-over-month changes might not mean much, the February income report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released on Monday, said that personal income was up 0.4 percent for the month, more than expected. Unfortunately, wages and salaries weren’t the driving component of the increase: they increased $23.9 billion in February, compared with an increase of $47.3…

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor Cleveland Metropolitan Area – Office Expectations for 2015 Marcus & Millichap predicts that 2015 will be a good year for the Cleveland office market. In its Cleveland Office Research Report for 2015, the commercial real estate brokerage firm said that developers will hold back on new office construction. And, with companies expanding, hiring and leasing new space, the market’s office operations will return to pre-recession levels. According to Marcus & Millichap, new development will be limited this year. Developers will only deliver 71,000…

By Ioana Neamt, Associate Editor Vantage Hospitality Group has opened a new Lexington by Vantage-branded hotel in Bali, Indonesia. The new Lexington Klapa Resort is the brand’s second property in the Pecatu Indah area of Bali. The Coral Springs, Florida-based company also owns the 266-room New Kuta Hotel in the region. “Bali has become one of the world’s top tourist destinations, so we’re very pleased to now have two Lexington locations on the island,” said Bill Hanley, Vantage Group president of International Development. “Vantage Hospitality continues to expand worldwide,…

By Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor A joint venture between Ivanhoé Cambridge, of Montreal; Callahan Capital Properties, of Chicago; and affiliates of Beacon Capital Partners has acquired, for about $55 million, a 40 percent interest in the Class A office building at 515 N. State St. in Chicago, the buyers announced on Monday. The seller was not disclosed, and as of press time Ivanhoé Cambridge had not responded to a request for further information. The 29-story, 654,000-square-foot tower, in downtown Chicago’s River North neighborhood, is certified LEED Gold and was from its completion…

At Inman Connect New York in January, Dave Liniger, the CEO of Re/Max, talked about how the landscape of real estate has changed (and the many ways in which it hasn't) and shared his agent-centric perspective with Inman Publisher Brad Inman ...

It is an exciting year to be a real estate agent. Every day is the best chance you have to do something new, differentiate from your competition and build authority in your local community. To sweeten the deal, you have more technology and tools than ever at your disposal to achieve your goals ...

Lost cats, petty crimes and controversial developments. Those are the most common topics of discussion for residents of one Los Angeles community on Nextdoor, the social network for neighborhoods that was recently valued at $1.1 billion. The next most popular talking points for the L.A. neighborhood are a bit thornier: race and sexual orientation ...

Rooftop solar panels can be a great way for homeowners to cut their electricity bills, particularly where rebates that reduce cost of the initial investment are available. But because you can’t depend on the sun to come out every day ...

I just watched a TED talk with Theaster Gates about reviving neglected neighborhoods through art. It’s worth watching: Click here to view the embedded video. I wrote about the concept of a startup house this weekend. The motivator for building either an art hub or a startup house is the exact same: building local community. Of course, community is the long game, which is why so few people invest in it. The post Revive a Neighborhood: With Imagination, Beauty and Art appeared first on GeekEstate Blog.

Certainly there is no shortage of money in the technology sector, and that’s growing rather than shrinking. Real estate agents and brokers want to reach relocation clients moving to town for those extremely high-paying jobs. I wrote about being the “start-up agent” in 2013. It’s still do-able. How? Here’s one an idea to kickstart your efforts: Fund/sponsor/build a local start-up house. These types of houses exist already in some places. For example, Hackersurfing (funded/run by WeFunder) and StartupHouse in San Francisco. There’s Krash. Kansas City…

From Coldwell Banker: Click here to view the embedded video. Well done. More background on how this campaign came to be: Click here to view the embedded video. The post Home’s Best Friend appeared first on GeekEstate Blog.

[Editor’s Note: HomeZada is sponsoring Geek Estate this month, and this is a sponsored post.] The story behind how a tech company gets its start often intrigues people. The three founders at HomeZada are passionate and driven second time entrepreneurs and believe that many good ideas come from personal experience. HomeZada is no different. The Previous Company Prior to HomeZada, Elizabeth, David and I worked for a software company called Meridian Systems, where in 1993 I started this company with another co-founder. Meridian was started from a personal experience that entailed the need to…

I often hear from readers that they love the geeky startup stuff (like this) I write from my own experience with Oh Hey World / Horizon. So here’s another one of those. I came across Kipo tonight via a posting inside a Facebook group I belong to. I think the landing page is very clear as to what the product is, and why I as a business owner would want such a service. Take a look: Kipo Landing Page And see the video: Click here to view the embedded video. Why do I mention this, and how does it relate to startup life? I think we have our consumer positioning for Horizon very, very close:…

Sunbelt and suburbs ascendant New census data is out. The cities with the highest levels of net domestic migration since 2010 are Houston, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, Denver, and San Antonio. In just the last year, Florida has been popular. The state now ranks 3rd in terms of overall population, surpassing New York. Americans are once again running for the sunbelt and the suburbs, away from the cold of the Northeast and Midwest. The Wall Street Journal reports this week that Facebook exploring the possibility of using solar-powered drones to help spread internet access to remote corners of the…

The following Field Guides have recently been updated in the Library: Social Benefits of Home Ownership The financial and tax benefits of owning a home vs. renting are very clear. Home ownership also provides many benefits to the family, children and the community, such as increased education for children, lower teen-age pregnancy rate and a higher lifetime annual income for children, as discussed in the following articles. Flood & Disaster Insurance Disasters can happen any time. Do you have flood or disaster insurance? Find out what a standard policy should cover, NAR information,…

The death of IE, timely satellite maps, and commuting times Microsoft officially admitted that it’s phasing out its Internet Explorer web browser. The company will instead promote an as-yet unnamed browser, code-named Project Spartan. Once the browser of choice, IE’s popularity continues to decline as other more modern browsers have come to the fore. Do you still use IE? Have you ever looked at the satellite images in Google Maps and been miffed that the pictures are a few years old? If you’re in a major metro, things can change fast. Well, there’s a new service from…

Networking tips, Apple announcements, and the future of McDonalds networking by flickr user jairoagua For some networking feels like a chore while others find it invigorating. Finding the right way to network depends on your comfort level and personality. Regardless of your preferences, Harvard Business Review writer Dorie Clark shares the basic dos and don’ts of networking. This week Apple gave more details on its Apple Watch (cost and availability and some new apps) as well as introducing a long-awaited update to its Macbook laptop line. The new Macbook isn’t so much an upgrade…

One of the most challenging aspects of working with home sellers is helping them understand the necessity of pricing a home for sale at fair market value. Fair market value is defined as: “The most probable price for which the specified property rights should sell after reasonable exposure in a competitive market under all conditions requisite to a fair sale, with the buyer and seller each acting prudently, knowledgably, and for self-interest, assuming neither is under duress” (The Appraisal Institute, 2008). The goal is to expose the subject property to the maximum number of qualified…

At Inman Connect New York in January, Dave Liniger, the CEO of Re/Max, talked about how the landscape of real estate has changed (and the many ways in which it hasn't) and shared his agent-centric perspective with Inman publisher Brad Inman ...

It is an exciting year to be a real estate agent. Every day is the best chance you have to do something new, differentiate from your competition and build authority in your local community. To sweeten the deal, you have more technology and tools than ever at your disposal to achieve your goals ...

Lost cats, petty crimes and controversial developments. Those are the most common topics of discussion for residents of one Los Angeles community on Nextdoor, the social network for neighborhoods that was recently valued at $1.1 billion. The next most popular talking points for the L.A. neighborhood are a bit thornier: race and sexual orientation ...

Rooftop solar panels can be a great way for homeowners to cut their electricity bills, particularly where rebates that reduce cost of the initial investment are available. But because you can’t depend on the sun to come out every day ...

The process of buying and selling a house is already difficult. When you throw a divorce into the mix, it just gets messier. With the exception of child custody, dividing real estate might be one of the most complicated and important issues for a couple ...

The Gowanus “Batcave” was the home of a thriving squatter community in the early 2000s. Today it’s being renovated into artists’ studios and exhibition space. Credit: Will Ellis New York City photographer Will Ellis raises “ruin porn” to an art form in his striking photographs. [Slate] Power companies claim that solar houses are jacking up other people’s electric bills, and there’s a faceoff in California. [Mother Jones] Here’s a list of interest as April 15 looms: the top 15 low-tax cities. [Business Insider] Amazon’s new Dash buttons will let…

Florida’s Space Coast is known as the launching pad for trips to the moon. And this futuristic, three-dome home for sale on the Space Coast looks as if it might be right at home in outer space. But homeowner Jim Conant had much more earthly designs for the property in Brevard County, FL, when he purchased it a couple of years ago. “We were selling our old home because we had eight kids and needed to downsize,” says Conant when asked why he bought the geodesic delight. While a 3,224-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-bath home isn’t exactly downsizing, the family still had four…

Credit: Flickr user fredo A mark of distinction to some, a burden to others, San Francisco home prices are some of the highest in the country. The Bay Area always tops the list of the highest median home values, no matter whose survey you read. But while prices remain high, they’ve actually fallen a little bit, according to the latest data. According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the gold standard for tracking home prices, in January 2015 San Francisco reported the largest monthly decrease—a whopping 0.9%—of 20 cities surveyed. Of course, home prices there…

Caught in the lure of March Madness, we’re awarding the title of the nation’s best affordable house. After four days of intense competition (and clicks) in our sweet 16, only eight homes remain in the running. Recapping this weekend’s action: Detroit revved up and trounced Fort Wayne in the Midwest Cincinnati soundly defeated Akron in an intrastate rivalry In a close matchup, Richmond bounced Buffalo from the tourney Lower seeded Salisbury continued to surprise and routed Rochester In a battle of brick houses, San Antonio jumped all over Jacksonville The Nashville home…

Church of Scientology in Los Angeles. Credit: Flickr user Scientology Media We were fascinated this weekend by HBO’s documentary on Scientology, “Going Clear,” and here’s a look at the controversial church’s most awesome real estate holdings. [Gizmodo] Here’s why commune-style living might be the answer for today’s working couples in an expensive real estate market. [The Billfold] Mike Tyson‘s insanely excessive former mansion in Ohio (all-marble errythang), now abandoned and trashed by vandals, is being resurrected—as a church. [TMZ] These…